The usual swing seat comprises a rigid board or seating platform suspended from an overhead support by flexible connectors such as chain or rope. However, such swings frequently cause injury to unwary children in a position to be struck by the swinging rigid seat. Consequently, of late, there has been a tendency to outfit gym sets with swings having flexible sling-type swing seats which do not cause serious injury when they swing against a child.
One example of a sling-type seat in use today is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,056. Basically, that swing seat comprises a generally rectangular plastic or rubber strap-like seat having a pair of spring straps extending lengthwise along its front and rear edges which tend to maintain the seat in a generally flat condition. A pair of rigid wire hangers are anchored to corresponding ends of those straps at the opposite ends of the seat. A pair of chains hanging down from an overhead support are attached to these hangers to suspend the seat above the ground.
That prior flexible seat has a definite advantage over conventional rigid swing seats in that it does minimize the incidence of injury. However, it still presents some danger to nearby children because of its rigid wire hangers. Morever, that seat is composed of several different parts. Some of these parts such as the spring straps are assembled by the manufacturer which increases manufacturing costs. Other parts, such as the wire hangers have to be assembled to the seat per se using small nuts. Sometimes, these small parts become lost causing inconvenience to the purchaser. Also, when the seat has been in use for a period of time, the hangers and fasteners become rusted, making it difficult to disassemble the swing in the event that becomes necessary.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,352,555 discloses an elastic tube swing seat which consists of a tube having a spring extending therethrough. A bracket is mounted to the top of the tube and to the ends of the spring by which the swing is suspended by a cable from an overhead support. That swing also is a relatively complicated and therefore expensive play item and we suspect that it is for that reason that it has not found its way into the marketplace.